Guyana - Government

On the achievement of independence on May 26, 1966 the name Guyana was adopted. Guyana declared republican status on February 23, 1970. Thereafter the Constitution was changed from Monarchical to Republican, with the Head of State no longer being a representative of the Queen of England as it was since 1814 when Guyana became a colony of Great Britain. Under the Republican Constitution, the titular Head of State became the President while the Prime Minister remained the Head of Government.

In 1978 the National Assembly was dissolved into a constituent assembly and in 1980 the republican constitution was replaced by a new one, which coincided with the elections of that year. The Constitution is called the Supreme Law of Guyana, adopted on February 20, 1980, and entered into force on October 6 of the same year. In September 2000, the Parliament passed the revised report and implemented the amendment in 2001. The Constitution stipulates that Guyana is a non-religious democratic sovereign state, and the President is the supreme commander of the Head of State, Head of Government and Armed Forces. The parliament, the president and the cabinet are the largest democratic authorities.

Executive authority is exercised by the president, who appoints and supervises the prime minister and other ministers. As with members of Parliament, the president is not directly elected; each party presenting a slate of candidates for the assembly must designate in advance a leader who will become president if that party receives the largest number of votes.

Persons with continuous residence for seven years were eligible to run for president, the election of the most votes of the party presidential candidate was elected. The term of office of the President shall not exceed two terms. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President from the National Assembly and is the chief executive of the President in the exercise of executive power and is responsible for the affairs of the Government at the National Assembly.

The Cabinet consists of the President, the Prime Minister and the relevant ministers, responsible to the Parliament. The Minister is appointed by the President as a Member or a Member of Parliament, with a non-elected technical minister of up to four, but not all ministers are members of the Cabinet.

The President could no longer dissolve Parliament where the National Assembly has refused to pass legislation. Some of the powers of the President have been abolished while others have been modified. Any dissolution of the assembly and election of a new assembly can lead to a change in the assembly majority and consequently a change in the presidency. Most cabinet ministers must be members of the National Assembly; the constitution limits non-member "technocrat" ministers to five. Technocrat ministers serve as non-elected members of the National Assembly, which permits them to debate but not to vote.

Legislative power rests in a unicameral National Assembly, generally referred to as Parliament. In 1964 the electoral system of First Past the Post was changed to that of Proportional Representation with 53 members in a uni-cameral house due to the abolition of the Senate. The parliament consists of the National Assembly, with a term of five years. A total of 72 members of the National Assembly, including: 1, the Speaker, elected by Parliament from non-members but elected members; 40 seats in accordance with the proportional representation in the country directly elected; 25 seats in proportion, 4 non-elected, appointed by the President Of the technical ministers; 2 non-elected parliamentary secretary (Clerk).

Overhang seats would be required if a Party wins a disproportional number of constituency seats thereby giving it an advantage over other parties. Under these circumstances GECOM would award overhang seats to the national top up to ensure that the advantage is removed. As such e.g. where a party obtains the required number of votes for a seat at the regional level but that number of votes would not entitle the party to a seat at the national level, the regional seat is not taken away from the party but an additional seat(s) is added onto the quota for the National Assembly so that the proportionality is not lost.

The Parliament is not directly elected; each party presents slates of candidates at the time of national elections. After the election, each party leader selects from the party lists the individuals who will represent the party in Parliament. The president may dissolve the assembly and call new elections at any time, but no later than five years from its first sitting.

The highest judicial body is the Court of Appeal, headed by a chancellor of the judiciary. The second level is the High Court, presided over by a chief justice. The chancellor and the chief justice are appointed by the president.

The High Court is composed of Chief Justice and other ordinary judges designated by the Parliament, with 12 present judges; Court of Appeal for the Court of Final Appeal, by Chancellor, Chief Justice and others Appeals Judges (the Chief Justice also has an Appeals Judge) and 5 are present. The Chief Justice is the dean of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice is responsible for the work of the High Court. In addition, there are about 40 regional courts (Magistrate Court).

Guyana has 10 administrative regions (Administrative Region), by the Chairman (Chairman) and the regional democratic committee (RDC) is responsible for management. The District Democratic Council consists of 12-36 elected members who are responsible for implementing the policies of the Central Government and representing the residents of the district. Sub-Regions, Districts, Communities, Neighborhoods and People's Co-operative Units.

The most basic administrative body is the "District Democratic Committee" (NDC, elected by villagers in neighboring villages). NDC was established in 1990, replacing the original village of different names, such as Village, Country, Rural District, and so on.

The decision to give each region its own flag was announced in 2016 by Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan, who noted that the initiative was all part and parcel of a wider effort to promote the decentralisation of each of the 10 administrative regions and encourage each district to embrace its uniqueness.